Arizona State gets a quick chance to clean things up.
After opening with a 75-65 win over East Tennessee, the Sun Devils are back home Friday night to face Northern Colorado in their second game of the season. ASU head basketball coach Randy Bennett didn’t hide the standard after the opener.
"These guys will be ready to play," ASU head basketball coach Randy Bennett said. "They were ready to play tonight, but we need to get better."
The matchup tips at 7:00 p.m. MT / 9:00 p.m. ET at Desert Financial Stadium in Tempe, Arizona, with the game airing on ESPN+ and on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.
This is only the second meeting between the programs on the hardwood, and the first in 20 years. Arizona State won the previous matchup in November 2006, 66-51. Bennett has never coached against Northern Colorado during his time at Saint Mary’s College.
Northern Colorado arrives with one of the Big Sky’s top names in Langston Reynolds, the conference’s Preseason Most Valuable Player. Reynolds spent one season at Minnesota after three with No.
Colorado before returning for his fifth and final year with the Bears. Last season, he averaged 16 points per game while thriving in Steve Smiley’s fast-paced system.
Smiley has built a strong run in Greeley since taking over in 2020-2021, posting a 110-83 record. Northern Colorado went 20-12 last season, finished fourth in the Big Sky at 10-8, and won the league’s regular season title in 2024-2025. The Bears also come in hot after a 117-64 win over Colorado College on Monday.
For ASU, the key battle may come on the glass. The Sun Devils were not sharp enough on the boards against ETSU, and that kind of slip could be costly against a team that wants to play fast and get downhill. Northern Colorado attacks the rim and pushes tempo, so Arizona State’s size has to show up.
The Bears will also likely crowd ASU’s top scoring options, including Dillan Shaw and Paulius Murauskas, who are both looking to rebound after combining to go 2-for-11 from three against East Tennessee.
That leaves the frontcourt as the biggest question mark and maybe the biggest swing factor. Filip Malesevic came off the bench and made all four of his shots while grabbing six rebounds, outplaying starting center Ben Defty, who finished 0-for-4 with two rebounds.
So the question Friday is simple: can Malesevic keep giving ASU that kind of production from the five, and does that push him into the starting lineup? Or is he better suited as a bench piece the Sun Devils can build around?
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